Melody Tremain

Sarah Newlands

Forbidden Knowledge

March 16, 2006

Advertising Reflection

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I really enjoyed watching Culture Jam. It reminded me quite a bit of a book I recently bought, called Post Secret. It is a compilation of postcards that were created intending to share a secret anonymously, then mailed to a certain person who would then post them on the internet. Some of the post cards remind me of the Billboard Liberation Fronts’ work. They defined their work as “hijacking commercial culture”, or throwing the wrench in the machine. I am very impressed with the bold behavior exhibited by each individual on this film.

On second thought, though, it occurs to me that Reverend Billy (of the Church of Stop Shopping) might need some professional help. He seems overly obsessed with bringing Disney to it’s knees. His actions do not seem healthy, but at least he listens to his legal council. The woman who was interviewed by the documentary crew said something that really struck home to me. She said “There is no design in the system for me”. I feel that way sometimes too. What kind of society has people whose only job is to listen to people talk about their problems? Have we become so faceless that we no longer have friends and relatives to give us advice? I cheer for her, for expressing herself in any way, even if it is considered slightly destructive.

Both videos bring up the same concept, albeit from different views, that consumers express themselves by buying products that they feel represent them. The Persuaders acknowledges the necessity of making “deep mental connections” between a consumer and an item. This “connection” is different than the traditional advertising, which appeals more to the head than to the heart. Traditional advertising uses what the movie referred to as “ER” words-whiter, brighter, cleaner, softer, and so on. Now advertisers are aiming for simple cult-like devotion. This is called “emotional branding”, and the target is “loyalty beyond reason”. Part of the process is moving merchandise from being just a brand to an entire experience. A supposedly effective manner of doing this is product placement. This is, for example, during a blockbuster hit movie, one of the lead characters is constantly drinking a certain brand of soda. In theory, this means that every time you think of that actor, or at least that role, that brand will pop into your head, along with all of the good feelings of that movie. Naturally, this is intended to work both ways, and so the movie industry allows this symbiotic relationship. There are individuals who look through scripts and find places to put products for this purpose!

The accumulation of so many different kinds of advertisements creates a “vicious circle of clutter”, which we slowly grow immune to, which leads to the need for more advertisements. There is no way of stopping, because whomever does will simply go out of business. In our world, information is the currency which all understand.

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